About This Quiz

Are you word smart? Then you know an idiom is a word or phrase that has developed a meaning that is different than the meaning of the words the idiom is constructed with? Right? It's not difficult. Think of phrases such as "raining cats and dogs," "kick the bucket," "straight from the horse's mouth," and "once in a blue moon."

Now, we've never witnessed cats and dogs actually falling from the sky, we're pretty sure that kicking a bucket wouldn't kill you, horses can't talk, and the moon isn't actually blue. The thing is that these colorful phrases are idioms; they are phrases that developed over time to have meanings other than what is literally meant.

All languages have idioms. They are one of the components of language that make learning a language other than your native tongue difficult. If you told a new English learner that it was raining cats and dogs outside, he or she would likely be very confused... or think you were seeing something.

Idioms are fun. Take this quiz to find out if you know common phrases better than most everyone else.

Someone overly dramatic who uses emotions to manipulate people might be accused of crying "crocodile tears." Ancient people believed that crocodiles wept during their meals -- perhaps to lure more victims.

"Pounding the pavement" is an expression for taking a long, purposeful walk, typically in reference to finding a job. If you actually got out and went door to door in the business district, your feet would literally be pounding the pavement!

The expression "break a leg" seems cruel when considered literally, but it's actually a way to wish someone good luck. It arose from superstition - people thought if they mentioned something bad, something good would happen instead.

To get the truth "straight from the horse's mouth," you have to talk to a first-hand witness. The phrase originated from buying and selling horses; you could verify a horse's age, for example, by examining its teeth.

A "bigwig" is someone who's really important or wealthy -- for example, the CEO of the company where you work. The saying springs from the British, who wore large, white wigs if they were important and rich enough to afford them.

To 'leave no stone unturned' is to be extremely careful and thorough while researching something. The phrase is often used to describe a criminal investigation, a research project or a search for a lost item.

Occasionally, there will be two full moons in one calendar month; in modern times, this phenomenon has been dubbed a "blue moon." In addition, the moon sometimes takes on a blue appearance when enough ash particles are in the atmosphere, such as when the volcano known as Krakatoa exploded.

"Hang in there" is a phrase commonly used to comfort someone who's having a rough time. A popular theory points to a widely circulated photograph of a kitten hanging from a silk rope as the culprit for the now-popular phrase.

The phrase comes from the wild days when men whipped out pistols from their holsters and fired at hip level. Now, it refers to someone who makes snap decisions and says things without always thinking them through.

When a car's gas tank gets low, the only thing keeping it running are the leftover fumes from the gas. This led to the expression "running on fumes," which is often used when someone just can't keep going without sleep and/or food. A similar expression is "running on empty."

Alas, this exciting phrase has nothing to do with graveyards or the walking dead; instead, it refers to the premise that a person's skeleton is the bare minimum for maintaining a human-looking appearance.

The phrase "preaching to the choir" is commonly used to describe someone speaking to a group that is already in agreement. A pastor telling the people already in church that it's important to be in church on Sunday would be "preaching to the choir."

If you "spill the beans," then you've just revealed a secret, whether it's yours to reveal or not. Some say this idiom hails from ancient Greece, when votes were cast secretly with white or black beans; spilling them meant that the tally would be known too soon!

If a man is known for "sowing his wild oats," then he's known for sleeping around. Wild oats were not considered to be useful in the 16th century, nor was it helpful for a man to father children outside the family.

Red herrings were apparently used to train hunting dogs to follow a scent despite the herring's sharp smell, and some say escaped prisoners would use the fish to throw the dogs off the trail during their escape. In both cases, the "red herring" is used as a distraction!